


The Sunset Burning

by amyfortuna



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Gen, Prophetic Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-20 10:52:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8246299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: Bard has a premonition about the fate of Lake-town.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RainbowUnderpants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowUnderpants/gifts).



The lake was wide, and the fishers in their huts lived on the further shores, near the beginning of the River Running, where the fish tended to be more plentiful. Every day Bard would row his barge from Lake-town to the fishing grounds, collect what fish had been caught that day, and row back in the late afternoon, thus sparing the fishers themselves from having to take time out of their work to do it. 

It was hard, sweaty work, and this summer was the worst for heat they had had in some while. It was early September, though, and summer would soon be over. Bard, barrels full of fish, was rowing toward the town, a bit later than usual. 

He happened to glance upward toward the town, and the light of the setting sun behind it made it look like it was aflame. 

A strange premonition flashed through Bard. He almost dropped his oar. _Aflame, the town would be aflame, and no one to put it out, everyone too concerned with saving their own skins to help anyone else._ A great and terrible roaring filled his ears. He clutched at the oar, but was no longer rowing. The boat drifted softly on the open water, still slowly moving forward. 

Bard staggered back unsteadily, leaning against a barrel. The oar swung free for a moment in the water, and only the fact that it was affixed to the boat prevented it from falling in. He closed his eyes to avoid seeing the town before him, burning in the sunset light, and took several deep breaths. His daughters, his son - would they be safe? 

But the premonitions - he'd had them from time to time ever since he was a young child - never enlightened him about things like that. They were always warnings of disaster - fire, flood, fear - and as such, laughed at by the people of Lake-town, particularly the Master and his ilk. Sometimes they came true, and sometimes they did not. 

This time, though, he was sure there was something real to fear. His heart was pounding, and despite the heat of the day which still lingered, and the hard work he had been doing all day, he was cold, chills running up and down his spine. 

When he next looked up, the sun had dropped below the horizon. Lake-town was silhouetted against the last light of the day, black and stark against the silvery water. One by one lights began to appear in the windows of the town as housewives lit their candles and lamps in preparation for the evening meal. 

The evening meal! He was running late already, and this delay had just made him even later. He made a frustrated noise and grabbed the oar, rowing with all his might for the town. There would be many people waiting for their fish when he arrived, and they would all be furious with him. Telling them about the strange vision he'd had would do him no favours. 

Well, perhaps there was nothing in it, after all. Maybe it was just an exhausted fever-dream, brought on by the heat of the day. 

He pulled his boat up to the docks. As predicted, a lot of people were waiting for him, frowns on their faces. Among them stood Alfrid, the Master's lackey. 

"Well, then, grim Bard," Alfrid said, pulling his face into a mockery of Bard's own frown, "what's got you upset today? Fire or flood?" He spat derisively onto Bard's clean barge floor. 

Bard redoubled his frown, and began handing out fish to anyone who wasn't Alfrid, glaring at him with all the grimness that he was known for. "How about both?" he said after a little while. "Fire to burn you, flood to drown you, and both of them too kind a fate for you." 

Alfrid gave a choked-off laugh. "You'll pay for that, Bard, you just wait and see," he said, and turned, shoving his way through the crowd, heading in the direction of the Master's house. 

One of the younger housewives put her hand on Bard's arm. "Pay him no mind," she said. "It's not worth it." 

"You're right of course, Freya," Bard said, shaking his head, and trying to put both premonitions and Alfrid out of his mind. "Now, how much fish do you need tonight?"


End file.
